Can Julia Ducournau win the Palme d’Or again? Here’s our first teaser for “Alpha,” Julia Ducournau’s anticipated follow-up to “Titane,” which screens tonight at Cannes.
“Alpha,” distributed by Neon, stars Golshifteh Farahani (”Paterson”) and César-winner Tahar Rahim (”A Prophet”), and is being described as Ducournau’s “most personal and profound work yet.”
Set in a fictionalized, New York-inspired city during the 1980s, the film follows troubled 13-year-old girl Alpha, who lives with her single mom. The synopsis reads, “their world collapses the day she returns from school with a tattoo on her arm.”
This is Ducournau’s first feature since “Titane,” the body-horror firebomb that earned her the Palme but split audiences. If you remember the wild ride that was her debut, “Raw” (2017), you know what kind of emotional and visceral punches Ducournau is capable of throwing.
I actually find that number optimistic. Tickets for “Digger” go on sale next Tuesday, and presales will give us a better picture of how bad it’s looking.